A/N: Oh, just THINKING about the ways Percy could kick the shit out of Zeus is exciting, but I had to settle on one for this chapter. Oh well, I'll get to showcase other abilities eventually. Keeping this one short, though, as it wouldn't really fit with another chapter. Well, enjoy the beat down. The reaction to the time powers will come later.
Zeus stumbled backwards, fear evident in his eyes before his pride reasserted its dominance. "You do not scare me, child! I am-"
Percy cut him off by kicking him in the chest faster than most any could register, sending him flying off the small stage they'd been on. "You are a fucking dumb ass. THAT'S what you are." He proceeded to walk to the edge of the stage and look down at Zeus, who was on his hands and knees, struggling to breathe again.
Just as Percy was about to continue, he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Who the fuck-?" He stopped in his tracks when he noticed it was Artemis, staring at him pleadingly.
There was a tense, 30 second silence as they stared at each other, her silver eyes locked with his currently gold ones. Well, it was silent for everyone who was watching, because the moment he turned to face her, Artemis had engaged in a mental conversation with him. 'Percy, don't kill him. Please.'
'And why,' he asked, truly curious despite his current state, 'shouldn't I?'
Her eyes flicked to her father, becoming slightly conflicted for a moment. 'I know he deserves it, both from his actions against you before and his actions now,' she admitted without a bit of reluctance, 'BUT, despite all that, he is one of the main reasons why I don't have half of the male gods breathing down my neck, looking for an opportunity to get in my pants. For the moment, he's needed.'
Percy disagreed with that, which he made clear. 'No, I feel like the main reason is because they are afraid of what will happen to the parts that make them male if they try. Besides, IF you actually do need someone to scare off possible suitors, you know where to find me.'
Her lips pressed into a thin line, not liking the way the conversation was going. 'No, he would've married me off to one of them already if he didn't want it to be one of his children. I rejected them all, so, for the time being, he's allowing me to remain a virgin goddess. If not for him allowing this, I WOULD have to deal with them, because they all think with their lower head. Eventually, one would manage SOMETHING.'
Percy thought for a moment, reviewing her point. Sighing, he relented, realizing she would keep arguing even if he had an answer to all her points. "Okay, fine. I won't kill him." She let go of his shoulder, giving a sigh of relief.
Said sigh turned into a gasp when Percy proceeded to jump down in front of the recovered Zeus and stab him through the chest before brutally ripping the curved blade back out, spraying the ground with his golden blood. "PERCY!" He ignored her as Zeus fell to the ground.
Dropping to a knee and placing a hand on the god, he focused on his domain of mortality. As the wound began to close up, Percy addressed Artemis. "From Iapetus, I gained the domain of mortality. Mortality isn't something limited to those who don't live forever. Physical bodies can perish, which places them firmly within my power to restore." He felt Artemis relax, knowing Zeus would probably be fine, and still gain a lesson in humility. Percy wasn't finished yet, though. "Now, get the fuck up, Zeus; I'm not done with you."
Zeus, who's eyes were rapidly dimming as his consciousness faded, was suddenly snapped back. Percy had pulled back a little while ago, so he wasn't in the way when Zeus sprung to his feet, feeling his chest and only finding the golden blood that sprayed from his wound. He was unaware of what had just transpired, as it was over before he could even register it, so he just laughed, thinking Percy was unable to kill him.
Percy rolled his eyes raising his blade, showing the the blood in the blade that pierced his body. Not a bit of it had dripped, all of it sticking to the blade as if there was some sort of force keeping them there. "Don't you feel it, Zeus?" Percy disappeared, appearing behind Zeus at the same moment a deep gash covered the god's chest. "Your strength ebbing with each drop of blood?"
He didn't give Zeus a chance to answer as he quickly swept him off his feet using the shaft of his scythe before slowing down time and positioning his scythe blade directly under him. Once he was correctly positioned, he resumed the normal flow of time, letting Zeus fall on the blade, coughing up golden blood. He saw some of the demigods move to help their king, but a single look made them freeze up once more.
It wasn't just the fear from the look in his eyes, though, that stopped them. He stopped time for the signals their brains sent to their muscles to tell them to move, paralyzing them.
Turning his attention back to Zeus, Percy just began to focus his healing power on Zeus, making sure the god stayed alive as he lowered his grip on his weapon before flinging Zeus sky high, tearing the blade out of him.
Now both blades of his scythe were wet with the Olympian's blood. The blood itself traveled up the blades, settle into the grooves of the shaft and blending in with the already gold engravings. Percy's smile returned with a vengeance, almost splitting his face as he felt a surge of power.
Zeus had healed by this point, and the force of gravity had begun dragging him back to earth. Being "lord" of the sky, he stopped himself midair, staring down at Percy with rage in his eyes. All rational thought was gone from him now. 'This DEMIGOD has humiliated me in front of my subjects, and I WILL NOT STAND FOR IT!' The storm that had been brewing from the time they were shouting seemed about ready to burst, so he let it do exactly that.
Using his power over lightning, he called down as much of it as possible, raining it down on Percy without a thought for the safety of everyone else. Percy, who'd taken to the air and was slowly approaching, had a moment of disgust at the complete disregard of the safety of those watching. He couldn't help but mutter, "Great fucking ruler you are."
Percy, after slowing down time to a crawl, flew up and outright CAUGHT the bolts, one after another, with one hand, shattering them as they reached him. After the first few, Zeus stopped, staring in shock before his fury was reignited. Percy resumed the normal flow of time, allowing his voice to sound normal. "HOW DARE YOU ENCROACH UPON MY DOMAIN? FIRST, YOU FLY, THEN YOU STOP MY LIGHTNING! I REFUSE TO TOLERATE THIS!" Even as high up as they were at this point, the assembled gods, demigods, etc. could easily hear the furious god.
Percy rolled his eyes, his anger still burning brightly behind his relaxed yet slightly annoyed facade. "Oh shut it, Zeusy. What you will and won't tolerate is hardly any of my concern... but, since you're being so bitchy, I'll explain. For every drop of blood you spill onto Exantlo, I gain some power from you. I shoved my partner here into your heart already, then cut you further, so you can imagine how much power from you I've taken. This is your own power being used against you."
"Don't get the wrong idea, though," he began to clarify, as Zeus got a slightly prideful look. "This is only bolstering my powers to a level FAR beyond yours. I was given the same abilities, and them some, by Ouranos himself, and even in the watered down form I received them in, they outclassed yours. Now, I'm approaching his level." Zeus' face paled as he realized just how outclassed he was.
Percy didn't give him a chance to beg for mercy. Bolts of lightning, which had been arcing between the clouds around them for a while, shot out at Zeus, frying him to a crisp(A/N: The average bolt of lightning is around 54000 degrees Fahrenheit, or 30000 degrees Celsius.). When they ended, which was an admittedly short time later, Zeus had burns all over him, parts of his skin so badly burnt that they were charred(aka third degree burns).
Catching his body as he began to fall back to earth, purposefully grabbing him by the neck, which had second degree burns, as he didn't know if the third degree ones damaged nerve endings, he squeezed as he began healing the god of his injuries.
After a minute, Percy was holding a completely healthy Zeus, though the feeling of pain was strong enough to linger despite the lacking injuries, incapacitating him through the intensity of the feeling. Seeing the "lord of the sky"'s face remain contorted in pain, Percy closed his eyes as he smiled serenely, which looked rather out of place as he sat in a storm cloud, a man going through agonizing pain held within his grasp.
Percy opened his eyes suddenly. 'I should probably end this.' Calling lightning towards him, he took a sense of satisfaction that he'd confirmed something in the previous onslaught: Zeus wasn't immune to lightning. He could summon it, he could control it, but he was also susceptible.
Thankfully, Percy's shadow clothes could absorb lightning and redirect it, negating the damage to him and increasing what was dealt to Zeus. He dialed back the heat to a level he could withstand due to his nature (around 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit, or about 1200 Celsius) and allowed the bolts to do their thing.
Zeus, who was being continually healed, screamed in agony, Percy's intervention preventing him from falling unconscious. All the burns, despite the reduced heat, were still severe, searing his skin and leaving blisters and charred areas which were being continually healed, leaving a place for another to form.
When Percy felt he'd had enough, he gripped the mans throat tighter before rocketing back down, landing away from the crowd as their return created a crater. Zeus had been slammed into the ground on impact, leaving him in the ground, unable to move due to the pain he was still feeling and the electricity running through his body, messing with his nervous system. The pain, still as strong as if he was still being shocked, prevented him of thinking of anything beyond 'MAKE IT STOP!'
Percy, using hos control over the earth, just reformed the earth, removing the crater with a thought and popping Zeus out of the ground. He had the pain going on a time loop for Zeus, keeping it at the same level as when they were airborne. He grabbed Zeus by the hair and dragged him back to the assembly, every member of which was staring in their direction.
Percy pulled all the electricity out of his system, directing it to ground, and threw him back into his seat almost casually. As the anguished Zeus screamed, Percy decided to end the loop, allowing the signals his brain was getting to come to an end, bringing the pitiful wails of the "king" to an end with them.
Looking out to the crowd, he smirked at the fearful look he got. "I think he's calmed down." Turning to Zeus, he continued. "Now, weren't you addressing these people?" Zeus, who was still writhing in agony, barely heard him. Percy slammed the pommel of his scythe into his foot, breaking a few bones, though he healed them easily, as he had contact. "Weren't you?" he hissed out, making his message clear.
Zeus, broken out of the fading pain induced trance by the new but short-lived pain, nodded vigorously. Percy nodded back, a smile on his face that shouldn't have been there, holding a weapon that gave off such... willingness to kill.
After a moment, Percy went back to his position next to Artemis. He rubbed Exantlo's blade lovingly before sending it back, the blade humming in what could only be described as disappointment for the lack of enemies. After it was gone, he promptly followed suit, disappearing from view. They all knew he was still around, though, and that alone was enough to put him on edge.
Zeus cleared his throat, regaining everyone's attention. When he spoke, his voice had lost all of its bravado, all of its power. "A-as I was saying," he began weakly, "Perseus has denied his help to the upcoming threat, as he..." Zeus felt a cold presence SOMEWHERE around him, letting him know that his words had power. The power to decide his own fate. His throat suddenly felt very dry. "H-he... doesn't feel obligated to help us." The crowd went into an uproar, especially after seeing him decimate the kind of the gods so easily. How could someone so powerful NOT help them?
Clearing his throat, Zeus continued, having regained some of his normal behavior, despite his damaged pride. "However, he is not opposed to helping us, under certain conditions." The crowd listened intently, wanting to know what they had to do to gain such help. "He... he's a-"
Percy cut him off, his voice audible before he was visible. "I'm a mercenary, as I believe I've said before. Even if I'm not really too eager to lend my services, I'm willing to, as I don't hold the broken bonds between me and a previous generation as your wrongdoing. That, and I do still have friends here. As such, I can be bought." He paused a moment to think. "Actually, you guys are rather lucky. I'm already bound to the hunters, for the time being, so your enemies can't buy me, at the moment."
As he saw hope blossom in their eyes, he sought to crush it. "Sadly," he began, "I'm only obligated to defend the hunters in their weakened state until either their skill or numbers have reached a satisfactory degree, preferably both. And, as they aren't strong enough at the moment, the hunters will likely be staying back in this war, for the most part. You want my services, hope to Khaos that Zeusy here strikes a deal with yours truly."
Percy stopped for a moment to think. "Actually, the more I think about it, I'm not sure if I'd participate in this war even if you DID pay me. You demigods have gone soft in times of peace, complacent in your increased numbers. Then, there's the hunters, who've been weakened immensely. And those are just the internal problems you guys face.
"When this does get started, and I'd say that's whenever Typhon heals, you'll have to face Typhon, who ever stole his position, a monster army that's been preparing for a little while now, and whatever others they have on their side.
"Typhon alone was a match for the Olympians at their peak. Maybe they could take him now, with their increased numbers, but whoever took his power will also be a problem, and any other immortals they convince, be they gods, titans, or protogenoi, will just worsen the problem. For all we know, they might've found a way to hasten the Giants' revival, and they DEFINITELY want to overthrow the gods. For all my strength, I can only help so much."
He watched with amusement as the demigods began to panic before stopping them. "OI!" They quieted down. "Now, I didn't say this for you to panic... but you may be fucked." The mass panic intensified as Artemis shot him a scathing look. Catching it, he shrugged. "What? You heard what they're going up against." The look intensified.
A/N: And, that's a wrap! I'm keeping it short so I can work on my other stories. I've been trying to iron out just what information Percy has available to share with them, just so I can stay consistent. It's rather difficult, as I'm planning a serious WTF plot twist, which will either being amusing or annoying. Seriously, it'll be one or the other. Don't wanna give too much away, but know that it has to do with Percy and someone else who has been at least mentioned in the story. Let the fan theories commence.
